1. Field of the Invention
The invention generally relates to electronics, and in particular, to spread-spectrum communications.
2. Description of the Related Art
Spread spectrum communication techniques offer many benefits in communications systems. These benefits include resistance to detection and/or interception as well as resistance to jamming. In a spread-spectrum system, the data is spread, that is, increased in bandwidth before it is transmitted across a data channel. When received, the data is despread back to the original data.
The amount of spreading determines the processing gain of the spread-spectrum system. Generally, the benefits of spread-spectrum modulation increase with increased processing gain. However, increasing the processing gain of the system increases the number of channel symbols transmitted, which also increases the signal processing rate required to demodulate the signal. High data processing rates are more difficult to implement in hardware or in software. For example, circuits (or microprocessors/signal processors implementing software) can be limited by maximum circuit speed, heat dissipation, or even by power consumption, particularly when battery powered.